Starbucks on Thursday will launch a revamped happy hour program as the coffee chain looks to perk up slumping afternoon sales.
Rather than solely discounting Frappuccino beverages for all afternoon customers, as Starbucks has done in the past, this new happy hour serves up wide-ranging deals solely for users of the Starbucks app or for those who’ve otherwise provided their email address to the company.
The promo kicks off with half off all espresso beverages from 3 p.m. to close for those who’ve received an invite. Happy hour will run throughout 2018, a company spokeswoman said, with its special events and offers changing frequently.
Starbucks’ loyalty program currently has nearly 15 million active users, the company said, while 100 million people visit the chain’s stores each week.
“This shift in Happy Hour is just one example of how we can further establish, strengthen and develop digital relationships with our customers,” Matt Ryan, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Starbucks, said in a statement.
Starbucks has made no secret of its recent dissatisfaction with its Frappuccino Happy Hour promotion.
“Recently, particularly in the afternoon, those sparks just haven't worked well, they haven’t paid off, they haven’t paid back,” Scott Maw, Starbucks executive vice president and chief financial officer, said at a conference earlier this month. “Frappuccino Happy Hour is probably the biggest extreme of that, not really paying back. So, we're going to do very different things around happy hour this year.”
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